The next time you’re late, tell your boss it’s because science, and give them a copy of this article. If you get fired, not our fault; should have been on time!
Either we know this person, or we are this person; the person who is NEVER on time. Yeah, you know exactly what–or rather, who–I’m talking about. The people who tell you they’ll be there in 20 minutes, live 30 minutes away, and haven’t even left their houses yet. Annoying.
Psychologists have finally found an answer to why though. Yes, there’s an actual answer, and it’s not just because these people are annoying as hell. A new study released from Wilifrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario says that that the main reason people are chronically late is that they simple underestimate how long a task will take to get something done; sometimes by as much as 40%.
This idea has been termed “planning fallacy,” which means having a strong tendency to chronically underestimate task completion, and researchers believe it is almost impossible to fix. So you’re late, because science. Tell that to your boss.
The experts have tested many strategies that were found to help people actually get things done on time. One of those is to force people to predict how long it would take to get things done based on past experiences. The other is breaking it down into multiple (and more detailed) steps.
Do you know any people that have this issue? Does knowing that they maybe just can’t help it make you feel less angry at them? How have you dealt with it? Let us know in the comments below.